Ireland’s 22 year-old Bertram Allen added more silverware to his large collection today (Sunday) when winning the Sunshine Tour Grand Prix in Spain with Dino W.
A difficult course at the four-star Vejer de la Frontera venue allowed only eight combinations through to the jump-off from a startlist of 49, and the final battle came down to clear rounds from Allen and his nine year-old grey and the Czech Republic’s 27 year-old Emma Augier de Moussac with her Dutch-bred mare Diva.
Also in close contention for the 16,000 euro top prize was France’s Alix Ragot and the Selle Francais stallion Thais de Pegase, who also posted a zero penalty jump-off round.
Though Ragot and Augier de Moussac both finished in a fraction over 44 seconds, the Wexford rider displayed his usual turn of speed to break the barrier and come home in 43.46 seconds, leaving the Czech rider in second place and the French rider in third.
Allen’s last major victory with Dino W had been the five-star winning round class at Stuttgart in Germany last November.
Two more Irish riders claimed places in today’s Grand Prix top ten – Alex Duffy slotted WCE Cruco into fifth with a clear and a four-fault round, with Olympian Greg Broderick taking sixth place with Charmeur on a similar faults tally.
Jack Burns
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